Before somebody put the Sport in Sport Utility, there was only Utility. Today's 502-powered Nice Price or Crack Pipe '66 Suburban sports a 502 with a claimed 700 hp. That may make may make you a sports fan, but will its price as well?

Cars are complicated, made up of dozens of sub-systems like suspension, drivetrain, interiors, etc, and whether when a company engineers a new car, or an individual restores or modifies and old one, you can usually see where the money goes. In the case of today's Chevy Suburban, the cash was mostly all dumped under the hood. That's obvious as, while the seller lays claim to its 396 - now bored and stroked to 502 - has been breathed upon to the point of producing 700 ponies, the rest of the truck looks like something hobos sleep in.

Of course that combination of fastidiously pumped up driveline (he also says it has an M22 4-speed) combined with indifferent visual presentation is what could be deemed to be a Rat Rod. For further clarification, please see the OED definition below-

Rat Rod [rat rahd] Noun

1. A high performance personal transportation vehicle - car or truck - modified, or left in original un-modified condition, in the goal of creating the appearance of being just shy of excreta.
2. A vile rodent's peen.

Advertisement

The 6th generation of Suburban - available from 1960 through '66 - took its styling cues from Chevy's shoebox cars from the decade prior. In fact the two-door Suburban looks extraordinarily like a Neanderthal version of the Nomad wagon. This one, in white over baby blue is said to need new front fenders and rocker panels if you want to keep the squirrels out. The interior - said to be complete - has a patina evident from decades of use and a certain je n'aime sais quoi when it comes to cleanliness. It is however tarted up a bit by a vinyl steering wheel wrap, and Hurst shifter topping the long spindly shift lever. The seats are covered in the kind of fabric usually reserved for the waiting areas of abattoirs.

Outside, there's the aforementioned uncanny resemblance to Chevy's iconic two-door wagon, as well as a set of American Racing wheels. And tires, it does appear to have tires. The 396 which is now a 502 is said to be out of a 1969 El Camino, and if it has the ponies it's claimed to, there should be little trouble moving the Suburban's 3,700-plus pounds with alacrity. The seller makes the bold claim that the truck making up those pounds is in great shape. He also says that he needs the cash more than the ‘Burban and that he'd like to get six-large in trade.

Advertisement

As it stands, it's either a good base for a wholesale restoration - if you're crazy into these things - or for leaving as-is and reveling in its visual decrepitude as one does with a Rat Rod. Either way, it looks like the buyer's going to have to cough up something in the neighborhood of the seller's $6,000 asking. What do you think about that? Is a 700 bhp (if that's to be believed) Suburban worth that kind of bank? Or is this one suburban neighborhood you think is out of anybody's price range?